Digicams of the Arts

| June 12, 2006, 10:54 AM

On Saturday, my daughter and I (my poor wife was sick) attended the Columbia Festival of the Arts in Columbia, Md. I was struck by the number of digital cameras in use. I only saw one film camera--and I had to look hard to find even that one.

While most people used click-and-shoot digicams, I saw a whole bunch of digital SLRs. I mean lots--50, at least, by my count, which I'd say was close to a third of all digicams observed. Most people carried the Nikon D50 or Canon EOS Rebel/Rebel XT. I'm not surprised because of the dSLRs' price points.

As I said in March 2005, declining dSLR prices could open up "a new digital camera market for people with lenses and equipment purchased for 35mm film cameras." Increased dSLR demand creates opportunities for software vendors, too. Windows Vista will natively support RAW (as does Mac OS X today). Last year, Apple released Aperture, and Adobe is testing new product Lightroom. Both packages are geared for photo professionals and sophisticated amateurs.

Next month, Sony will enter the dSLR market with the alpha (A100). Specs, including a 10-megapixel sensor, are impressive. The question is what will the camera deliver for $999. If nothing else, Sony's alpha may push down higher-end features to lower prices, just as Canon and Nikon have done. And that's got to be good for dSLR adoption.